Device for preventing and curing stammering and stuttering.



T. BEATTIE & G. A. PEATE.

BNTING AND CURING STAMMERING AND APPLICATION FILED APR.11, 1911.

S TUTTERING. v

Patented July 2, 1912.

6 Am 6 Z 0 w 67 H w m x G GEORGE A. PEATE AND THOMAS BEATTIE, orMONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

DEVICE FOR PREVENTING AND CURING STAMMERING AND STUTTERING.

Specification Letters Patent. Application filed April 13;, 1911. SerialNo. 620,271.

Patented July 2, 1912.

To all whom'it may concern." Bait known that we, GEORGE A. PEATE; andTHoMA's BEATTIE, subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing atMontreal, Province of Quebec, Canada,have inventedj certain new anduseful Improvements in Derides for PI'Oy GIItiDg BL iid Curing Stammering and Stuttering, of which the following is a specification. i Thisinvention comprehends certain new 1 and useful improvements in surgicalappliances and relates particularly to an apparatus designed for use 0na patient in treatment by experts for the prevention and cure n 1. 5, ofstarnmering and stuttering. The primaryobject of the invention is toprovide an instrument whichwill perform a bloodless surgical operationin the nerve centers of the brain. 2 Instamrnering and stutteringspeech, the bulk of the energy, or neural impulse, goes. through habitto some part" of the articulating organis1n, as distinguished from thexvocal "rganism. Hence,'in the first applica= 2.5- tionoivour improvedinstrument for the cure: {:Qof stammering and stuttering, the instrument is so arrangedthat it will bind the articulating organs, namely, jaws, tongue, and

. lips, at a Widely separated position and so SOthatthey cannot act atall, even to a slight '1; degree. The purpose ofrendering these organsinactive is primarily to prohibit the nervous energy in the brain fromentering the motor nerve centers of the articulating ,asjm-gans at all,and, on the other hand, to turn -such energy entirely into the motorcenters of the vocal organism, namely, the larynx hand diaphragm. Thesending of such large 'nd abnormal amounts ofenergy through Ao ltheselast named motor centers and'neural "processes (under the guidance ofone who understauds neurology and the neural nature or; stammermg,stutter ng, and, normal and carry 1 it safely peach) opens up the vocalprocesses in-the 4 brainto such a degree of prev-iou'snes s that "theywill compete s'uccessfully for the bulk.

thefart 'culating ppocesses"'a1jd invention.

Our invention also has for its object a de vice of the characteroutlined above which is adjustable so that it can be first applied tomake all of the articulating organs inactive, its adjustable features,when applied, subsequently allowing some freedom to the less troublesomeorgan or organs, while keeping the more troublesome organs still.inactive. V 1

With these and other objects in view as will more fullyhppear as thedescription proceeds, theinventionconsists in certain constructions,arrangements and combinations of the parts that we shall hereinafterfully describe and claim. I

For a full understanding of the invention,

reference is to be had to the following desectional view thereof; and,Fig. 4 is a de-" tail perspective view of a portion of the severalparts, Corresponding and like parts are referred organs, which is theprimary object of cur to in the following description and indicated inall the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Our improved appliance comprises upper and lower curved plates land 2,preferably somewhat angular in cross section and curved to fit snuglywlthin the upper and lower lips of a person being treated, each of. saidplates bein provided with an adjust mentfbar 3. ,.T1 ese bars, in theassembled relation of the parts, are-designed to overlap. and they areformed with a plurality of apertures through corresponding ones of whichpins or screw bolts 4 may be passed to cut di'stance's apart.

The up )er -p"latc '1 is secured in any (is sired way to'it. d nallyextend-mg bar 5, said bar being coni'e"'forwar d end of a longituiiectedlit-its rear end and at a point intersecure said plates rigidly togetherat difiermediate of its ends, to rear end front cross bars (3. Thesecross bars 6, in the present embodiment of the invention, havedownwardly turned extremities T riveted or otherwise secured to theinner sides ol. cup-shaped pad holders 8 made of silver 0- any otherdesired metal and ha ving their edges clenched into preferably rubberpads S). In connection with these pad holders S and pads 9, we employcompanion pad holders and pads, designated S and 9, respectively,arranged underneath the pad holders and pads 8 and 9, these two pairs ofupper and lower -pad holders and pads being adapted to fit in betweenthe upper and lower sets of teeth of the patient and arranged to rigidlyhold the jaws apart the required distance. In order to effect thisresult, the pad holders 8 are connected to the lower pad holders 8 in anadjustable manner, as by front and rear slotted plates 10 and set screws11, as clearly illustrated in the drawing.

Underneath the cross bars 6 is a main tongu'edepressing plate 12,preferably formed with openings to lighten it and per niit sound to passtherethrough, said plate '12 having secured to it any desired number ofrelatively vertical rods 13 which project upwardly therefrom. The lowerends of the rods 13 are preferably rigidly connected with the plate 12.There a re three of these rods in the present instance, two of thempassing upwardly through the rear cross bar while the third passesupwardly through tlie front cross bar. They are adjustably connected tothese cross bars by nuts as shown, so that the plate it! may be raisedor lowered and held in ditterent elevated position relative to the crossbars, the latter, in the practical use of the device extending acrossthe roof of a persons mouth in close proximity thereto.

H designates a secondary t rugue-depress-- ing plate, the same beingpreferably longitudinally curved, as shown, and being secured to rods orbolts [5 which are adjustably connected to the plate l-l near the frontedge thereof. Obviously, the tongue-depressing plate it may be raised orlowered either by adjusting the. bolts 15 or the rods 13, or both.

In the practical use ot' our improved surgical appliance, it will bemanifest from the. foregoing description in connection with the accoinmnying drawing, that the device is inserted, after adjustment by one.who understands neurology and the neural nature of stammering and normalspeech, within the mouth of the patient, the plates l and 2 lilting wellup within the lips and the parts being at first so adjusted that thejaws, tongue, and lips will be held absolutely inactive. It will beunderstood that after certain surgical results have been ob tained inthe speech centers of the patients brain. by using the instrument inwork specified for his particular case, the holding means for any organmay be adjusted to a less degree of tension without disturbing the otherparts, thereby allowing freedom to any one or more less troublesomeorgans, while keeping the more troublesome muscles still inactive.

After the device has been under proper guidance a sutlicient time, it isintendedrthat it be succeeded by an apparatus which forms the basis of acompanion application for Letters Patent of the United States, filed ofeven date herewith, Serial No. 620,270.

\Vhat we claim is:

l. A device of the character described, embodying lip-holding menibers,adjustable jaw-s neading pads, and means for extending and retractingsaid members'and pads independently.

2. A device of the character described, embodying lip-holding members,adjustable jaw-spreading pads, and a tongue depressor, and means forextending and retracting said depressor independently of thejaw-spreading pads.

3. A device of the character described,

embodying lip-holding members, adjustable jaw-spreading pads and atongue depressor apd means for extending and retracting said members,pads, and depressor independently.

a. A device of the character described, comprising lip-holding members,cross bars connected to said members, a tongue-depressing plateunderneath said cross bars and adjustably connected thereto,jaw-spreading pads connected to said cross bars and having an adjustableconnection with each other, and a secondary tongue-depressing platecarried by the primarytongue-depressing plate. 7,

A device of the character described, embodying a primarytongue-depressing plate, means for su riporting the same in a person'smouth, and a secondary tongue-dc,-

prcssing plate adjustably connected to the' primary depressing plate.

(3. device of the character described, comprising lip-holdin member's,cross' bars connected to said inem crs, a tongue-depressingplateunderneath said cross bars and :uljnslably connected theretojaw-spreading pads connected to said cross bars and having an adjustableconnection with each other, and a secondary tongue-depressing plateadjustahly connected to the primary depressing plate.

7. A device of the character described, comprising upper and lowerlip-supporting members, means for adjustably connecting the sametogether at different distances apart, a longitudinal bar connected atits forward end to the upper lip-supporting member, cross bars connectedto the longi-' connection wlth'the upper jaw blocks,-rods I adjust-ablyconnected to the cross bars and depending therefrom, a dprimarytongue-depressing plate conneete to the lower ends of said rods, asecondary tongue-depressing plate underneath the primary de ressingplate andlrods adjustably' conneete to said nlates.

' In testimony whereof, We afiix-our signatures in presence of twowitnesses. 1

GEORGE A. PEATE. [1,. 3.] THOS. BEATTI-E. [L.s.] Witnesses as to thesignature of George A. Peate:

, JOHN B. LAYEUX,

GEO. H..Q,U1:LI.IAM. Witnesses as to the signature of Thos. Beattie:

R. J. 'BURKE'rr, F. C. WA LACE.

